Annihilation of light dark matter into photons in model-independent approach
Andriy Badin, Gagik K. Yeghiyan, Alexey A. Petrov
备注:
4 pages 2 figures. To be published in the proceedings of DPF - 2009, Detroit, MI, July 2009, eConf C090726. Presented at DPF 2009 meeting by Andriy Badin. Several typos corrected, references changed
We examine annihilation of light bosonic Dark Matter into pair of photons in model-independent way. We consider the simplest generic Lagrangian describing such process and then compare results to the available experimental data. Then we match our results with particular Dark matter models and determine possible constrains onto parameter space of those models.
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The annihilation rate of dark matter particles plays a crucial role in dark matter studies, for it determines their relic density and their indirect detection signal. In this paper, we show that this annihilation rate can receive large additional contributions from three-body final states consisting of a real and a virtual massive particle, such as WW* (Wf \bar f') and t \bar t* (tW\bar b). We consider two specific examples, from the singlet model and the MSSM, and find that, due to the new three-body final state contributions, the prediction for the relic density may decrease by more than a f…
The cross section for a Majorana Dark Matter particle annihilating into light fermions is helicity suppressed. We show that, if the Dark Matter is the neutral Majorana component of a multiplet which is charged under the electroweak interactions of the Standard Model, the emission of gauge bosons from the initial state lifts the suppression and allows an s-wave annihilation. The resulting energy spectra of stable Standard Model particles are importantly affected. This has an impact on indirect searches for Dark Matter.
In this article, we review the prospects for the Fermi satellite (formerly known as GLAST) to detect gamma rays from dark matter annihilations in the Central Region of the Milky Way, in particular on the light of the recent astrophysical observations and discoveries of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes. While the existence of significant backgrounds in this part of the sky limits Fermi's discovery potential to some degree, this can be mitigated by exploiting the peculiar energy spectrum and angular distribution of the dark matter annihilation signal relative to those of astrophysical ba…
I review recent progress in the theory of gamma gamma annihilation into meson or baryon pairs at large energy, and of the process gamma* gamma* -> pi0 at large photon virtuality.
The continued non-observation of events emanating from dark matter (DM) annihilations in various direct and indirect detection experiments calls into question the mechanism for determining the relic density of a weakly interacting massive particle. However, if the relic density is determined primarily by a semi-annihilation process, as opposed to the usual annihilation, this tension can be ameliorated. Here, we investigate a Z3 symmetric effective field theory incorporating a fermionic dark matter that semi-annihilates to right-handed neutrinos (RHN). The dynamics of the RHN and the impact of …
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We present full QCD and SUSY-QCD corrections to neutralino pair annihilation into quark-antiquark pairs. We show results and numerically evaluate their impact on the neutralino annihilation cross section and the relic density in scenarios with non-universal gaugino masses. By comparing to the relic density obtained from a pure leading order calculation, we demonstrate that the corrections strongly influence the extraction of SUSY mass parameters from cosmological data.
We study the gamma rays observed by the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope from the direction of the Galactic Center and find that their angular distribution and energy spectrum are well described by a dark matter annihilation scenario. In particular, we find a good fit to the data for dark matter particles with a 25-30 GeV mass, an annihilation cross section of ~9x10^-26 cm^3/s, and that are distributed with a cusped halo profile within the inner kiloparsec of the Galaxy. We cannot, however, exclude the possibility that these photons originate from an astrophysical source or sources with a simil…
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We investigate the implication of unparticle exchange for the possible Sommerfeld enhancement in dark matter annihilation process. Assuming the unparticle exchange during WIMP collision, we solve the Schr\rm\ddot{o}dinger equation for the effective potential, and find that the Sommerfeld enhancement factor is dictated by the scale dimension of unparticle as 1/v^{3-2d_{\UP}}. Numerically the Sommerfeld enhancement could be {\cal O}(10-10^{3}).
Observational evidence for dark matter stems from its gravitational interactions, and as of yet there has been no evidence for dark matter interacting via other means. We examine models where dark matter interactions are purely gravitational in a Randall-Sundrum background. In particular, the Kaluza-Klein tower of gravitons which result from the warped fifth dimension can provide viable annihilation channels into Standard Model final states, and we find that we can achieve values of the annihilation cross section, $\left< σv \right>$, which are consistent with the observed relic abundance in t…
We describe in detail our calculation of the full supersymmetric (SUSY) QCD corrections to neutralino annihilation into heavy quarks and extend our numerical analysis of the resulting dark matter relic density to scenarios without scalar or gaugino mass unification. In these scenarios, the final state is often composed of top quarks and the annihilation proceeds through Z^0-boson or scalar top-quark exchanges. The impact of the corrections is again shown to be sizable, so that they must be taken into account systematically in global analyses of the supersymmetry parameter space.
We examine the effects of relic dark matter annihilations on big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). The magnitude of these effects have scale simply with the dark matter mass and annihilation cross-section, which we derive. Estimates based on these scaling behaviors indicate that BBN severely constrains hadronic and radiative dark matter annihilation channels in the previously unconsidered dark matter mass region MeV $\lesssim m_χ \lesssim 10$ GeV. Interestingly, we find that BBN constraints on hadronic annihilation channels are competitive with similar bounds derived from the cosmic microwave backgr…
For the large-angles hard photon emission by initial leptons in process of high energy annihilation of $e^+ e^- \to $ to hadrons the Dirac tensor is obtained, taking into account the lowest order radiative corrections. The case of large-angles emission of two hard photons by initial leptons is considered. This result is being completed by the kinematics case of collinear hard photons emission as well as soft virtual and real photons and can be used for construction of Monte-Carlo generators.
We explore the possibility of distinguishing neutrino mass hierarchies through the neutrino signal from dark matter annihilation at neutrino telescopes. We consider a simple extension of the standard model where the neutrino masses and mixing angles are obtained via the type-II seesaw mechanism as an explicit example. We show that future extensions of IceCube neutrino telescope may detect the neutrino signal from DM annihilation at the Galactic Center and inside the Sun, and differentiate between the normal and inverted mass hierarchies, in this model.
The precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background power spectrum put a strong constraint on the dark matter annihilation cross section since the electromagnetic energy injection by the dark matter annihilation affects the ionization history of the universe. In this paper, we update our previous simulation code for calculating the ionization history with the effect of dark matter annihilation by including Helium interactions and improving the precision of calculations. We give an updated constraint on the annihilation cross section and mass of dark matter using the modified RECFAST …
We study the impact of semi-annihilations x_i x_j <-> x_k X, where x_i is any dark matter and X is any standard model particle, on dark matter phenomenology. We formulate minimal scalar dark matter models with an extra doublet and a complex singlet that predict non-trivial dark matter phenomenology with semi-annihilation processes for different discrete Abelian symmetries Z_N, N>2. We implement two such example models with Z_3 and Z_4 symmetry in micrOMEGAs and work out their phenomenology. We show that both semi-annihilations and annihilations involving only particles from two different dark …
We study the effects of dark matter annihilation during and after the cosmic recombination epoch on the cosmic microwave background anisotropy, taking into account the detailed energy deposition of the annihilation products. It is found that a fairly stringent constraint on the annihilation cross section is imposed for TeV scale dark matter masses from WMAP observations.
DarkCapPy is a Python 3/Jupyter package for calculating rates associated with dark matter capture in the Earth, annihilation into light mediators, and the subsequent observable decay of the light mediators near the surface of the Earth. The package includes a calculation of the Sommerfeld enhancement at the center of the Earth and the timescale for capture--annihilation equilibrium. The code is open source and can be modified for other compact astronomical objects and mediator spins.
Hints in the Fermi data for a 130 GeV gamma line from the galactic center have ignited interest in potential gamma line signatures of dark matter. Explanations of this line based on dark matter annihilation face a parametric tension since they often rely on large enhancements of loop-suppressed cross sections. In this paper, we pursue an alternative possibility that dark matter gamma lines could arise from "semi-annihilation" among multiple dark sector states. The semi-annihilation reaction with a single final state photon is typically enhanced relative to ordinary annihilation into photon pai…
We derive cosmological constraints on the annihilation cross section of dark matter with velocity-dependent structure, motivated by annihilating dark matter models through Sommerfeld or Breit-Wigner enhancement mechanisms. In models with annihilation cross section increasing with decreasing dark matter velocity, big-bang nucleosynthesis and cosmic microwave background give stringent constraints.
We show that the thermal relic abundance of dark matter can be affected by a new type of reaction: semi-annihilation. Semi-annihilation takes the schematic form X_i X_j -> X_k phi, where X_i are stable dark matter particles and phi is an unstable state. Such reactions are generically present when dark matter is composed of more than one species with "flavor" and/or "baryon" symmetries. We give a complete set of coupled Boltzmann equations in the presence of semi-annihilations, and study two toy models featuring this process. Semi-annihilation leads to non-trivial dark matter dynamics in the ea…
We study the impact of bound state formation on dark matter annihilation rates in models where dark matter interacts via a light mediator, the dark photon. We derive the general cross section for radiative capture into all possible bound states, and point out its non-trivial dependence on the dark matter velocity and the dark photon mass. For indirect detection, our result shows that dark matter annihilation inside bound states can play an important role in enhancing signal rates over the rate for direct dark matter annihilation with Sommerfeld enhancement. The effects are strongest for large …
Dark matter caustics are small scale, high density structures believed to exist in galaxies like ours. If the dark matter consists of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, these caustics may be detected by means of the gamma rays produced by dark matter particle annihilation. We discuss particle annihilation in outer and inner caustics and provide sky maps of the expected gamma ray distribution.
In the cold dark matter scenario, galactic dark matter halos are populated with a large number of smaller subhalos. Previous work has shown that dark matter annihilations in subhalos can generate a distinctive, non-Poisson signal in the gamma-ray photon counts probability distribution function (PDF). Here we show that the gamma-ray PDF also carries information about the velocity dependence of the dark matter annihilation cross section. After calculating the PDF assuming $s$-wave and Sommerfeld-enhanced annihilation, we perform a mock data analysis to illustrate how current and future observati…
We consider constraints on simplified models in which scalar dark matter annihilates to light charged leptons through the exchange of charged mediators. We find that loop diagrams will contribute corrections to the magnetic and electric dipole moments of the light charged leptons, and experimental constraints on these corrections place significant bounds on the dark matter annihilation cross section. In particular, annihilation to electrons with an observable cross section would be ruled out, while annihilation to muons is only permitted if the dominant contributions arise from CP-violating in…
We update the constraint on the dark matter annihilation cross section by using the recent measurements of the CMB anisotropy by the Planck satellite. We fully calculate the cascade of dark matter annihilation products and their effects on ionization, heating and excitation of the hydrogen, hence do not rely on any assumption on the energy fractions that cause these effects.
With the growing interest in indirect detection for dark matter signature, the thesis aims to investigate the signal originating from the self-annihilation of dark matter candidates. The methods for targeting the dark matter signal are two-fold, on one hand, we explore the gamma rays resulting from dark matter particles. On the other hand, we focus on complementary radio properties.
We investigate a scenario where the recently discovered non-thermal hard X-ray emission from the Ophiuchus cluster originates from inverse Compton scattering of energetic electrons and positrons produced in weakly interacting dark matter pair annihilations. We show that this scenario can account for both the X-ray and the radio emission, provided the average magnetic field is of the order of 0.1 microGauss. We demonstrate that GLAST will conclusively test the dark matter annihilation hypothesis. Depending on the particle dark matter model, GLAST might even detect the monochromatic line produce…
Many dark matter interaction types lead to annihilation processes which suffer from p-wave suppression or helicity suppression, rendering them subdominant to unsuppressed s-wave processes. We demonstrate that the natural inclusion of dark initial state radiation can open an unsuppressed s-wave annihilation channel, and thus provide the dominant dark matter annihilation process for particular interaction types. We illustrate this effect with the bremsstrahlung of a dark spin-0 or dark spin-1 particle from fermionic dark matter, $\overlineχχ\rightarrow \overline{f}fϕ$ or $\overline{f}fZ'$. The d…
We study the effects of dark-matter annihilation during the epoch of big-bang nucleosynthesis on the primordial abundances of light elements. We improve the calculation of the light-element abundances by taking into account the effects of anti-nucleons emitted by the annihilation of dark matter and the interconversion reactions of neutron and proton at inelastic scatterings of energetic nucleons. Comparing the theoretical prediction of the primordial light-element abundances with the latest observational constraints, we derive upper bounds on the dark-matter pair-annihilation cross section. Im…
Recent studies have suggested the possibility that the lightest supersymmetric particle is a suitable dark matter candidate. In this theoretical framework, annihilations in high density environments like the center of dark matter haloes may produce an intense flux of gamma-rays. In this paper we discuss the possibility of detecting the signatures of neutralino annihilation in nearby galaxies with next generation ground-based detectors.
For Majorana dark matter, gauge boson bremsstrahlung plays an important role in enhancing an otherwise helicity-suppressed s-wave annihilation cross-section. This is well known for processes involving a radiated photon or gluon together with a Standard Model fermion-antifermion pair, and the case of massive electroweak gauge bosons has also recently been studied. Here we show that internal Higgs bremsstrahlung also lifts helicity suppression and could be the dominant contribution to the annihilation rate in the late Universe for dark matter masses below ~1 TeV. Using a toy model of leptophilic…